TThe number of people starving to death in protracted conflicts is far greater than the number of people dying as a direct result of violence. It is therefore crucial to consider food security an indispensable link in the process of achieving peace. These interdependencies are underlined by the 17 Sustainable Development Goals in the United Nations 2030 Agenda, and their common objective of building peaceful and resilient societies.

The Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which began this week, has proven a popular time for jihadist extremists to launch attacks globally. Tunisia will be among those countries on highest alert, following a spate of violence over the past 18 months that has threatened its fragile stability. As the Islamic State (ISIS) faces considerable setbacks elsewhere, increased vigilance will be particularly focused on heading off the ambitions of this group within the North African country.

Critics argue that the Arab Spring has turned hope into despair and change into tumultuous chaos. Many writers and intellectuals have all but concluded that the so-called Arab Spring is nothing but a misnomer, and it was a dour winter all along. Furthermore, they insinuate that the hope that the Arabs were no longer peripheral to history was, in hindsight, premature.

Many observers, however, seem to be oblivious to the fact that revolutions are processes marred by intervals of violence, reversals, abuses, and forward movements.

This meeting note summarizes discussions at an IPI workshop in Vienna, held on October 25, 2011, about how the uprisings and changes in the Arab world affect the partnership between the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and its Mediterranean Partners for Co-operation (MPCs). Based on the 1975 Helsinki Final Act, the OSCE has developed and intensified relations over the last two decades with six MPCs: Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Morocco, Tunisia, and, Jordan.